A Deck of Foreigners
by SpaztheMagicBeanstalk
Summary: Alice's departure from Wonderland has damaged the Game, and the only way to fix it to find the Deck. But can this group of Foreigners accept their role and survive Wonderland's many dangers? Rated M for language and possible lemons... I suck at summaries.
1. The Deck

**Hi! This is my first HnKnA story but i felt it was one that deserved to be posted. If you don't like it, then don't read it. Constructive critisism is welcome and please review! That's all, enjoy!**

**-Spazzy  
><strong>

* * *

><p>A group of friends were enjoying each others company in that fateful spot where so many others had been taken from. They were the Deck, the completion of Wonderland. A foreigner for every territory. And they didn't even know it.<p>

Michael Liddell was the brunette muscle of the group. If anyone tried to mess with them, Michael would take care of it. Being the only male in the group, it was not surprising that his companions were not as afraid of him as everyone else was. They all saw him as the blue-eyed softy with a protective streak.

Riley Odair was the quiet one. She had long dark brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes, her best attribute, and, though she refused to admit it, a very nice figure. She had many admirers that she was oblivious to, though it was never taken personally since she was oblivious to nearly everything when she had a book in front of her.

Blaise Everdeen was the fiery loudmouth. She had hair to match her personality, long and wavy and bright red with her forest green eyes complementing it perfectly. She knew she had admirers, and flaunted it although she never touched any of them. Despite her boisterous personality, she had a truly good heart and would stubbornly take of people whether they wanted it or not.

Angel Aden was the petite 'little sister' of the group. Everyone protected and loved her for her innocence. She was shy and quite but had an ethereal beauty. Her hair was pale blond and her eyes a soft green, her skin pale and soft and her build small, enforcing the idea that she was fragile. She rarely spoke and was often teased when she did, which brought on more silence.

And finally, Nikki Newman. She was the insanity in the group. She had the insane ideas, her cobalt eyes always sparked with excitement as she convinced others to join her crazy stunts and her black hair flying as she sped through her ideas at a mile a minute.

Together they formed the perfect combination of friends, every one of them complimenting each other and forming unbreakable bonds. It was those bonds that made them perfect to take on the Role of the Deck. The Deck was legendary and rare for finding a group of foreigners with these unique characteristics and bonds was near impossible.

Although a certain incubus would proclaim nothing was impossible, and no one would disagree once the Deck was established.

...

Riley was the first to notice the rabbit coming up to them. "Guys." She whispered, barely heard, "Guys quiet. Look."

Everyone went silent to see what she was talking about. "Oh my gosh! It's so cute!" Angel gushed as everyone froze, not wanting to scare it away.

Michael frowned, "Is that bunny wearing clothes? And glasses?"

"Hello~" the bunny said as it neared them.

Blaise's mouth dropped. "D-did that rabbit just talk?"

"Follow me!" it said, turning around and running back to the forest that surrounded the Liddell property.

Nikki was the first to react. "Well, let's go."

"Go where?"

"After it of course!" she said with a look that said it should have been obvious.

For once, no one argued. It was too strange for anyone not to be curious. The group stood, Nikki in the lead and they didn't have to go far before they found the strange rabbit… and the large hole.

Nikki, of course, wanted to jump in. "Are you insane!" Blaise yelled, "You can't even see the bottom, we'd all die!"

Angel had taken a few steps back from the hole, as if afraid she would fall in and Michael was ushering the others away.

Riley was staring hard at the dark hole and barely noticed as a voice flickered through her head. **Jump. You will not be harmed. The Game needs a Deck.**

"The Game needs a Deck." She murmured before jumping in. She could hear her friends calling out behind her and she felt Nikki grab her arm, having jumped after her.

Nikki grinned at her as they heard the others following suit. She reached out and clutched Michael's hand from above her and they formed a chain, ensuring they wouldn't get separated. Unfortunately, the Game had other plans. As they began to reach the end, not that they could tell, the force increased.  
>Pulling them apart, straining their hands as they clutched at each other. Unfortunately, they began slipping apart, each flying in a separate direction.<p>

Multiple names were called out, but the darkness swallowed each call and the Deck was separated. The Game could finally begin.


	2. The Beginning

**Hello again! Just a warning, this will be the only chapter formatted like this, most chapters will be a single long POV but i wanted to get everybody started before i did that. And remember, REVIEW! Enjoy!**

**-Spazzy  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Michael grunted as he collapsed on the ground. His head hurt, he felt really… cloudy… He looked around, squinting, and saw a vial on the ground with a heart shaped stopper. He picked it up, almost trance-like, and un-stoppered it. He sniffed it, unsure what it was. He drank it too easily and realized quickly that the fog diminished from his mind when he did. He was being manipulated.<p>

He growled and ran his hand through his short hair but simply pocketed the vial, knowing there was nothing he could do about it.

He glanced around and realized that he was in front of a huge castle. It was very heart themed and he realized that there was a maze of rosebushes between him and the castle. Looking the opposite direction he noted that behind him was a dark forest.

_Castle it is…_ he thought dragging his battered body from the ground and starting his trek into the thorny maze.

...

Riley gasped as the ground knocked the air out of her. She rolled onto her hands and knees and took a few deeps breaths beneath the veil of her dark hair. Her mind was strangely hazy and she realized she was holding a strange glass vial with a spade shaped topper. _How strange…_ Before she even realized what she was doing she had un-stoppered it and drank it.

The fog lifted from her mind and she wondered why the hell she drank that. It could have been poison for all she knew!

She sighed in defeat, too late to do anything about it now. She looked around her and saw a dark forest with a single path leading up an exquisitely wrought gate with a mansion rising behind it.

_Creepy forest or unknown mansion? Unknown mansion._ And with that decided she forced her body to stop its bitching and began to follow the trail leading to the gate.

...

Blaise groaned as she sat up. "Man that was rough." She muttered, trying to fight the haze clouding her mind. She blew a few strands of fiery hair out of her face and looked around. Near her hand was a glass vial with a clover shaped stopper. She studied it, trying to ignore the intense need to drink it. She failed, of course, and once the potion had slid down her throat the fog lifted from her mind.

Looking around she realized she was in a plaza with a large tower a few yards away and forest surrounding everything else. The forest was dark and obviously unwelcoming while the plaza and tower were made of some kind of stone, none she'd ever seen before though.

She didn't even entertain the thought of entering the forest without some kind of useful information and carefully stood and made her way to the tower as she stuck the vial in her pocket hoping it would be of later use.

...

Angel whimpered as she pushed herself off of the ground. Her petite body was unused to such treatment and she brushed her pale hair away from her face so she could look around.

She felt battered and bruised and weirdly fuzzy. She noticed a strange vial with a stopper the shape of a jesters cap. She drank it easily and the fuzzy feeling receded.

Realizing that she probably shouldn't have done that, she put the vial in her pocket in hopes that she could find out what it was.

She winced as she sat up, and looked at her surroundings. She was surrounded by a dark forest but she could just see colorful tents through the spaces in the trees. She may be quiet and innocent, but she wasn't stupid enough to sit around in a dark forest and she forced herself onto her aching feet and walked into the bustling circus.

...

Nikki, more prepared for impact than the others, relaxed her body and thankfully wound up with only a few bruises when she landed.

Unfortunately for her, she was still as foggy as the others had been and when she found a glass vial with a diamond shaped stopper, she couldn't stop her from drinking it.

She berated herself for half a second afterward before shrugging it off. She'd done worse. She pocketed the vial and after a quick shake of her dark hair that was reminiscent of a wet dog she glanced around, pleased to see that she was near an amusement park surrounded by dark forest.

She thought it rather obvious where she'd be going and carefully stood, making sure she hadn't sustained any vital injuries and began walking to the amusement park.


	3. The Heart

**Thanks to all of the people who have reviewed, favorited, etc. Thanks for sticking with it, here's the first full POV chapter. Review and enjoy!**

**-Spazzy  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Michael had a pretty good sense of direction, so the maze wasn't too hard to navigate, though it was rather large. Once he managed to get to the front of the castle he was struck by how large it was. He'd never seen a building that large, or that extravagant. He was unsure whether or not to knock and was debating the issue when he heard voices, loud voices.<p>

"What do you mean you've been doing your job White! Your job is Prime Minister of Our castle!" A female voice yelled.

He peeked around the side of the castle and saw a large table with a woman sitting at the head. Her face was flushed with anger and her violet eyes were narrowed at the source of her unhappiness. She was dressed in a rather frilly and formal heart themed dress and her violet hair was in curly pigtails. She had a heart tattooed on her chest.

"I assure you Your Majesty, you'll find out soon enough." The man who spoke had white hair and… rabbit ears? What the hell? The rabbit man's back was to Michael but he could tell that the man was wearing a similar vest to that of the rabbit they'd followed here. Somehow he didn't think it was a coincidence.

The woman noticed him and straightened her back. "Who is this intruder!"

The rabbit whirled and smiled, "Oh good, you're here."

Michael stepped forward warily, bowing slightly to the woman who was so obviously important and giving the rabbit man a wary look.

The woman studied him. "Art thou a foreigner?"

He almost wanted to laugh at the sudden olden tone but realized she probably wouldn't like that so he just shrugged. "Seems probable."

She studied him, "What is your name foreigner?"

"I'm Michael Liddell." He noted the shock on both of their faces as they heard his last name. The woman, the queen? Composed herself more quickly than the rabbit man.

"We are the Queen of Hearts, Vivaldi." She said imperiously before gesturing toward the rabbit man with distaste, "And this is Peter white, Our Prime Minister."

Michael nodded, bowing to her once more. "It's a pleasure Your Highness." He said smoothly.

She waved her arm passively, "Call us Vivaldi. Have you been elsewhere in Wonderland?" She asked curiously.

He shook his head, "I landed nearby, though I'll be needing to find my friends who are also here." He said with a glance at the rabbit, Peter.

"Friends?" Vivaldi asked with a strange gleam in her eye. "How many friends?"

He gave her a curious glance, "Four others besides myself. We got separated during the fall." He at a watched her reaction and saw her eyes widen and dart to Peter while Peter simply smirked slightly. The number obviously meant something.

"It's true then." She murmured, "The Game is falling apart." He didn't get a chance to ask what that meant because she continued in a louder voice. "We insist you stay in the castle, We will explain your situation to you once you are settled in and we will help locate your friends."

Before he could object the afternoon sky melted into night. He looked up in shock and Vivaldi simply said, "Time moves strangely in Wonderland, you get used to it."

"Who gets used to it?" A new voice asked, stepping through some bushes and looking around. The man had messy brown hair and red eyes. He was wearing a tattered red coat and carried a sword with a heart patterned hilt at his hip.

Vivaldi's voice had that same distasteful note that it when she spoke of Peter. "This is Ace, Our Knight of Hearts. Ace, this is Our new foreigner, Michael Liddell."

"Liddell?" The man, Ace, asked. "As in Alice Liddell?"

Michael's eyes narrowed, "How do you know my grandmother?" The three shared a glance and Ace laughed.

"It's a long story. I'm tired." And then he wandered off. Into the bushes. Peter had walked off during the exchange and Vivaldi herself was standing.

"We shall talk once We have rested. Maid! Take the foreigner to a guest room; he'll be staying with us." She said before sweeping away.

Michael was left feeling disconcerted. "Oh, and Michael." Vivaldi called from the door.

"Yes?"

"Welcome to Wonderland."


	4. The Spade

**Hey again, you guys know the drill; just read and review please! Enjoy!**

**-Spazzy  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Riley studied the enormous gate curiously. She was unsure of the etiquette in this place and didn't know what would happen if she just walked in. The gate was black metal with patterns of diamonds, spades, clovers, and hearts. It was like a deck of cards.<p>

"Do you have business with the boss?" a childish voice asked her.

Riley spun, shocked to see to children behind her. They were twins, wearing identical outfits in blue and red. They had black hair and their eyes were the same color as their outfits. They were also pointing large axes at her.

"U-um…" she stuttered, too surprised and scared to think of a snarky comment.

"We don't really care." Blue said while Red finished with, "We're supposed to kill all intruders." Riley paled as they swung their axes back and prepared to swing.

"Hey!" a new voice called across the clearing and while Riley was relieved that he'd stopped the twins, she was still extremely wary of him after what had just happened. "What do you two think you're doing?"

"Shut up Newbie Hare!" Red yelled while Blue finished with, "Mind your own business stupid hare!"

The hare had orange hair and equally orange ears, rabbit ears. _No wonder they called him hare_ she thought, although this whole situation rang familiar for some reason.

"Do you have business with the mafia?" The hare asked her, but continued before she could reply, "I don't really care, I just want to test my new gun." Before the words were even out of his mouth she found a gun pointed at her head and at that moment she decided she _really_ didn't like it there.

"Elliot." A smooth voice said from behind Riley, making her stiffen in surprise, "Are you harassing the young lady." The owner didn't give the hare, Elliot apparently, a chance to respond and turned to her instead. "My name is Blood-"

"Dupre." Riley finished, her eyes wide. Riley studied him carefully; the longish black hair, the self-satisfied smirk, the top hat, the cobalt eyes, the exact image she'd had described to her so many times.

He raised and eyebrow at her, vaguely shocked that she had known that. She glanced around in shock, her mind cataloguing everything she saw and comparing it to what she could remember. "I'm in Wonderland. That's not possible. It doesn't exist!"

"And how do you know about Wonderland young lady?" Blood asked in that smooth voice, but she could hear the edge under it. She remembered the stories she'd been told as she grew up and figured it best to tell him the truth, he had no qualms about causing pain to get what he wanted.

"I knew someone who had been here before. Alice, Alice Liddell."

"You know Onee-san!" the twins yelled as one, tackling Riley into a hug.

She grunted, "Uh yeah. She's my friend Michael's grandmother. I'm one of the few people who listen to her stories anymore; everyone else just thinks she's crazy…" _I did too… _She thought sadly.

Blood studied her in silence and she met his eyes warily. He smirked, "Well, I have a feeling it will be getting dark soon, you should stay the night with us Miss…"

"Riley." She supplied.

"Riley." He repeated in a seductive voice, his smooth voice wrapping around the word and sending a tingle down her spine.

She knew that he was purposely trying to mess with her; Alice's stories about him had never been very pleasant. Strangling, threatening, mocking, flat-out insulting, and always seductive, that was Blood Dupre and Riley was determined not to fall for it. Unfortunately, Riley knew that the time in Wonderland was unpredictable and that she would need a place to stay…

She gave her own smile in return, much less seductive, and said, "That would be great, thank you." The sky had changed just as she finished that sentence and she flinched a bit at the sudden dark although she didn't freak too much, she'd been warned.

"Excellent." Blood said with that same self-satisfied smirk on his lips.

"Yay!" the Twins yelled, still clinging to her, "Onee-san's staying with us!"

"Hey slackers, get back to work!" Elliot barked, offering her a small smile as a sort of apology for trying to kill her. She smiled back, remembering what Alice had told her.

_'I always avoided Hatter mansion, you know my issues with Blood and the twins are much too violent, honestly Elliot was the only even vaguely normal one there…'_

Riley would need some normal if she was going to be staying here so being on good terms with the march hare seemed like a good idea. Blood motioned for her to follow him.

As she followed the Hatter into the large mansion he began speaking to her, "Tell me Riley, do you like books?"


	5. The Clover

**Hello again faithful reader's, whoever you are. Same as usual read and review! And, i haven't been doing this so here it is, i do not own HnKnA, obviously, so blah disclaimer blah. And special thanks to Runnybabbit44 for her feedback. And sorry this one's later than normal, i got distracted and said distraction will most likely be keeping me busy tomorrow too, so you get a double update today. Anyway, on with the story!**

**-Spazzy  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Blaise walked into the tower like she owned he place, though no one was around to see it. The first thing she saw was a desk covered in broken clocks and small tools. Maybe the man who lived here was an inventor?<p>

"Who are you!" a voice asked harshly from behind her.

Blaise spun, taking in the newcomer. His dark hair seemed to have hints of blue that complemented the cobalt of his eyes. His expression was unwelcoming, hostile even, and he was holding a knife in each hand. "My name is Blaise. Who are you?" She used the same tone of voice she always used; unconcerned, loud, yet friendly all the same.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Gray. Gray Ringmarc. What are you doing here?" he demanded.

_At least he has the courtesy to give me his name…_ she thought. "I followed a bunny." Blaise said with an eye roll.

Gray hesitated. "A bunny you say? And where did you follow him to?"

Blaise shrugged. "A giant hole in the ground?" It came out more of a question, which annoyed Blaise a bit.

Gray's eyes widened. "You're a foreigner?" he asked, his arms dropping and the knives disappearing with a speed that told her they could reappear just as fast.

"I suppose so." She looked around, "So… where exactly am I?"

Gray seemed to regain his composure and stepped past her, taking a piece of paper off the desk and spreading it out. "This is Wonderland." He told her, his voice gaining a lecturing tone she had to fight not to tune out. "Wonderland is composed of five territories; Clover Tower, here, the Hatter Mansion, the Amusement Park, the Castle of Hearts, and the Circus. Clover Tower and the Circus are neutral grounds, although the Jokers exist only for mischief and to cause others pain. The Hatter's, the Amusement Park, and the Castle are all in a power struggle."

"Why?" Blaise asked, thinking about it. Castle and Mansion made sense since they were both obviously somewhat powerful but how did the Amusement Park factor in?

Gray shrugged, "It's the Game. We can't fight the Game."

"Um, what?" Blaise asked, completely confused. What was he talking about, what game?

He shook his head, "Don't worry about it, you'll find out sooner or later." At her look he changed the subject. "Things are different here than they are in your world. The time changes randomly, common people have no face, and we all have clocks for hearts."

Blaise stared, caught completely off-guard, "Did you just say _clocks_?" She was utterly shell-shocked. How was that even possible? What would pump your blood? Clocks can't do that…

"Are you going to take my word for it or do you need proof?" He asked dryly, putting the map back where he got it.

"What was that about no faces?" How does someone not have a face?

"Only Roleholder's have faces. The rabbit that brought you here was Peter White, he's Prime Minister of the Castle of Hearts. That's his Role. If he were to die then a faceless would, well, get a face and become the new Prime Minister." Gray explained, turning back toward her and watching her face as she absorbed the information.

Blaise took a deep breath then smiled nonchalantly, "Freaky. Got anything to eat around here?" _Best to not dwell on the freaky_, she thought.

Gray smiled, just a little twitch of his lips, and motioned for her to follow him. After supplying her with some potato chips and her making some comment about how it was strange they existed in both worlds, Blaise got to meet some of the other residents of the tower.

A man wearing an eye patch walked into the kitchen, oblivious to its occupants and Blaise noticed how the fluorescent lights made his hair look as though it was on fire.

"My hair does not look like its on fire." The man muttered, closing the refrigerator and turning towards her. "Blaise Everdeen, welcome to Wonderland. It took you long enough. My name is Nightmare." He said in a tone obviously meant to impress.

Blaise leaned back, looking completely comfortable in the chair she was sitting in and she heard Gray chuckle beside her as she said, "Interesting name. How do you know mine?"

"No one can enter Wonderland without my express permission, so it's only natural I know who you are." He said, deflating a bit at the lack of awe. With a glance out the window he continued, "It's dark, you should probably stay the night, though you're welcome to stay as long as you like." Before wandering out of the kitchen again muttering something about sleep.


	6. The Joker

**Hello everyone. Blah, disclaimer, blah. Review please, enjoy.**

**-Spazzy  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Angel stared at the sight before her. At first glance it looked like a normal circus; bustling crowds, food stands, game stands, garish tents, but when she looked closer, she realized that no one had a face! What the hell was going on!<p>

The frail girl stumbled back a few steps, her thoughts racing. What the hell kind of hole had they fallen through? And why did _Riley_, of all people, make the first leap? And most importantly, how could she get out?

"Miss?" a voice said from behind her and she turned slowly, afraid to be close to one of these faceless people.

She was relieved to see that the man did _not_ lack a face. In fact his face was rather handsome, standing out against the colors of the circus by wearing nearly pure white. "Y-yes?" she stuttered out, her shyness over-whelming her.

He seemed to study her for a moment before continuing, "You wouldn't happen to be a foreigner would you?" he asked, tilting his head in a way that made his wine red hair fall over his eye patch and caused the bells on his jester's had to jingle.

"U-um, I don't really know what that means?" she responded in a quiet voice, confused by what he'd asked her.

**_"Of course she's a fucking foreigner bastard! No one else would be so shocked by the faceless!"_** a voice said, causing her to jump.

The man in the white jester's outfit covered a little mask hanging from his belt with his hand and smiled kindly at her, "Ignore him; he has no manners though he does have a point. You aren't from around here and from you're reaction to this place you didn't exactly come here willingly. Why don't you come with me so I can fill you in on what's going on."

Angel smiled softly, never suspecting an ulterior motive, and took his proffered hand, allowing him to lead her into a large multi-colored tent. She took the seat offered and smiled gratefully at him.

"Oh how rude of me!" he said after she sat, "I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Joker, as is that of my twin who spoke earlier. We're usually referred to as White and Black since we're both Joker."

Angel nodded, slightly confused, "So I can call you White then? I'm Angel Aden."

He smiled at her, "Angel hm? Fitting." She blushed slightly at the comment and he smirked, ignoring the grumble of something no doubt unsavory coming from his belt. "Well Angel, you're in Wonderland."

"Strange thing to call a place." Angel murmured.

"Well Wonderland is a strange place. The most obvious being the faceless of course, but also the time. It can go from afternoon to midnight in a second."

"Really? How do you keep track of anything?" the young girl asked, shocked.

"We're used to it." The jester shrugged.

**_"And you're gonna have to get fucking used to it too whore."_** The mask, Black she supposed, said.

White rolled his eyes. "As I said earlier, ignore him. Now if you don't mind my asking, how did you come to be in Wonderland?"

"U-um, I'm not really sure. There was this really cute bunny that led us to this giant hole. We weren't stupid enough to just jump in, although Nikki wanted too, but then Riley just jumped. Riley! She's the most reasonable person I know!" Angel exclaimed, talking than she usually did in a whole day.

Joker looked surprised, "There are more foreigners here? How many?" His tone was simply curious, but his body language and his eyes screamed hat there was more to this than the innocent child could understand.

"Uh, well there's me, Nikki, Riley, Blaise, and Michael. So five?"

**_"Well what do you fucking know; the Deck's not just a myth."_**Black said, confusing the girl even more than she already was.

White took his own advice and ignored the foul-mouthed man. "Interesting…" he turned back to Angel with a smile that she was too naïve to see through. "Why don't you stay with us for a little while, I'm sure you'd feel better knowing there's a place to come back to if you go looking for your friends." He peered outside, "It also seems that night has fallen and Wonderland's a dangerous place in the dark."

**_"Damned convenient, it being night so suddenly." _**Black growled. He was ignored once more by both people.

Angel smiled gratefully at the jester, "I appreciate it, thank you so much." White's single crimson lit up with something dark the poor girl didn't notice.

"It's not a problem at all." He said, and even his mask gave a silent agreement.


	7. The Diamond

Nikki peered around the amusement park in excitement. This was definitely her kind of place! The rides looked breath-takingly dangerous and even the more harmless games were reckless versions of themselves.

She had been a bit put off by the peoples… lack of faces… but she shrugged it off the way she always did, deciding to deal with it later, if ever.

Nikki was studying a type of ride she'd never seen before when suddenly she was knocked to the ground. "Chu~ Save me chu!" a voice said from above her.

She looked down to see a small ginger kid with mouse ears on his head clinging to her and burying his face in her chest. "Um, who are you?"

She didn't get an answer because at that moment another man approached. "Ha, found you!" he yelled, leaping off a nearby roof. The chains on his very punk outfit jingled as he hit the ground and Nikki took a moment to study him. He had a face, and hot pink hair paired with yellow cat's eyes, along with cat ears that matched his hair and a very large feathery pink boa. Amazingly, all the pink didn't make him any less manly.

"Chu!" the little mouse boy cried, burying himself further in her.

"Ugh, get off of me." She said, shoving him off. She stood up and brushed off her clothing with a huff of annoyance.

"B-but-" the boy said, his eyes filling with tears and terror when the cat began stalking him once more.

"Game over Pierce." The cat said with a large grin. Pierce ran away, diving beneath something the cat wouldn't be able to get under. The cat glared but turned to her.

"My name's Boris Airay, who're you?" he said with a smiled, offering his hand.

She offered a grin in return, taking his hand, "Nikki Newman."

Boris held her hand tighter and began dragging her away. "Tell me Nikki, have you been on Gowland's new ride yet?"

"Um, no?"

"Great!" he began dragging her in the direction of the rollercoaster she'd been studying earlier. He stopped suddenly. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be a foreigner would you?"

Nikki stopped also and shrugged, "Well where I come from everybody has a face so it's likely." She replied easily.

Boris nodded thoughtfully. "I thought so; you have the same feel as Alice did. Do you have a place to stay yet?" After Nikki shook her head he continued, "Well you should consider staying here, at least for tonight." And before she could answer he dragged her off to the deathtrap she would remember for the rest of her life.

As she and Boris stumbled off the ride with matching grins another man walked up to them, he had a face too.

"Boris!" the man bellowed with a grin.

"Hey old man" he said nonchalantly. "Nikki, this is Gowland, the owner of this park. Gowland this is Nikki. She's a foreigner." He said proudly and Nikki wondered vaguely what significance being a foreigner had.

"Really?" the man, Gowland, replied, and, at Nikki's nod, gave a great big smile, "How 'bout a concert in celebration?" Without giving them time to reply he pulled a violin out of nowhere and began making the most horrid sound she had ever heard in her life. It sounded like kittens dying, nails being dragged across a chalkboard, and the feeling of chewing on tinfoil all meshed into one horrid sound.

Boris grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the oblivious madman. She stumbled after him until they were out of range of the monstrosity.

Nikki shuddered, "Why? Why would he do that?" she asked holding her head with one hand while Boris continued dragging her toward a building with the other.

Boris shook his head, "He thinks it sounds good. I think it's just too high of a pitch for him to really hear it."

Nikki gave another shudder and glanced up, her eyes widening as she watched night fall over the afternoon sky. "U-um…"

Boris glanced up, "Oh yeah, time's weird here. Don't worry about it."

"It seems a lot of things are weird here." Nikki muttered, earning a slight grin from the cat man in front of here.

"Oh you have no idea." He said with that same large grin he'd had when chasing Pierce. Nikki couldn't decide if she liked it or not.


	8. The Queen

Vivaldi was sitting in her private quarters, among her large collection of secret adorable things, and she was pondering. The Deck was a myth, but then what were the chances that when the Game began falling apart, they appeared?

That was what the legend said would happen of course, but she couldn't bring herself to completely believe it. The evidence was in front of her, five foreigners, separated by some unexplainable force and sent to different territories, it all screamed Deck.

Yet how was it possible? No one truly believed in the legend of the Deck, the fixer-upper that no one thought could possibly be needed.

She supposed the belief came from the fact that no one thought the Game could be damaged, and yet Alice had done just that. She had changed everyone, and then left, leaving a world where these changed people no longer fit. She turned them all into outsiders in their own world. And the Game didn't like that. She herself barely even felt the rules she'd known ever since she gained her face, and she was the Queen of Hearts!

Vivaldi sighed, sinking back into her chair and holding her bear tighter. And what of the foreigners themselves, separate from the legacy they've been forced into? How will they take his world? Will they even accept their roles? Or will they destroy Wonderland once and for all?

She tired to think, of all the Roleholders, the Jokers and her idiot brother seemed the most likely to drive a foreigner away. Gowland and Boris were almost too nice plus what teenager doesn't enjoy an amusement park? While Nightmare had probably orchestrated this whole event and she could easily take care of any problems here in the castle.

The queen sat in that room all night, pondering back and forth how to make the foreigners stay, how to get the Roleholder's to cooperate, how to determine if they really were the Deck…

A knock on the door finally silenced the restless queens' mind. "Your majesty, you requested the foreigner be brought to you immediately upon awaking." A maid's voice sounded from beyond the door.

Vivaldi put the bear down and sat straight in her chair, looking over the maps on the desk before her. "Let him in."

The door opened and the blonde foreigner walked in, bowing respectfully and not sitting until she gestured for him to. She wondered how he knew the etiquette of royalty, but pushed the thought away.

"Michael, We're sure you would like to learn a bit about Wonderland before you go looking for your friends, yes?" she asked imperiously.

He nodded, "That would be greatly appreciated you majesty."

"Vivaldi, please. Now this," she pointed to the map, "Is where we are. The Castle of Hearts. Here to left is the Hatter Mansion, run by Blood Dupre, the leader of the mafia. This here is the Amusement park, run by a man by the name of Gowland. The three territories are in a war. The Clover Tower, here, is the only neutral ground. The Circus is technically neutral but the Joker's are someone you don't want to mess with. Any questions?" He shook his head, studying the map intently. "If We're correct, then one of your friends will be in each territory, though I warn you now, you may not be able to leave this territory yet."

"Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"We do no remember the legends well, yet we believe there is something that must be done. A journey of yourself, and acceptance of your role here so that the efforts of finding you have not been wasted. We are unsure; We never liked the legends much." Vivaldi said with a disdainful sniff.

"Acceptance of my role?" his eyebrows drew together in confusion.

The queen shrugged, "We know not. That is something you must learn on your own. However, you may stay here for as long as you wish, and you are welcome to attempt to leave. We are unsure if you are truly who We think anyway, but We can think of no other reason to bring in so many foreigners."

Michael nodded, his blue eyes narrowing in thought as he ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up. "I believe you're right." He reached into his pocket and took out the Potion of Hearts, "I drank this with a manipulative fog on my mind that cleared once the concoction had been drunk. Whatever you seem to think is going on, whoever brought us here suspected the same."

A smile graced the woman's lips, "But we are unsure if you are truly who We think, or if the person who brought you here was desperately grasping at straws." She said in a knowing tone.

Michael nodded and sighed, "If you don't mind, I think I may try to leave anyway. I worry for the others and if I can leave, I want to know."

Vivaldi nodded, "Of course, if you can leave, remember that you are always welcome here." Michael nodded gratefully and left the queen to her thoughts.


	9. The Hatter

Blood watched in silence as the new foreigner scanned his bookshelves in poorly concealed excitement. The hatter was vaguely surprised that another foreigner was here so soon, and that she knew Alice was an unlikely coincidence. He was fairly certain that Nightmare was up to something with this one, he wouldn't bring in another so soon for no reason.

Yet here she was, more wary of him than most women would be had they not heard stories from Alice. He was sure that the slut had portrayed him in a bad light and that the brunette foreigner before him was aware of his less polite side.

Riley seemed far different from Alice, yet surprisingly similar at the same time. They both were interested in his books, both were wary of him immediately, though for different reasons, and both had dark brown hair. Riley, though, was more guarded.

Alice had been someone who wore her heart on her sleeve, while Riley was a practical girl who had obviously been hurt sometime in her past and kept her heart hidden.

The main difference was that Riley did not exude the same whorish vibe that Alice did. Now Blood knew it was unlikely that the old foreigner had truly been whoring herself out, but she certainly did lead the men on. Riley, however, seemed to keep herself distant, friendly, yet not overly so.

She was also smarter, though that may have come from hearing of Alice's experiences. Anytime Blood asked this new foreigner a question, he was answered promptly and rather truthfully, whereas Alice had lept to conclusions Riley was careful not to. It was a strange contrast in his mind, between the two similarly different women.

"Are you done staring at me? It's making it hard to concentrate." Riley said, her eyes flickering up to his over the book she'd sat down with. It was one of his larger books, and he was actually rather pleased to see her reading that specific one.

He smirked and lounged across the couch across from her. "No not quite, I'll get back to you once I've gotten my fill."

She rolled her eyes, "You were comparing me to Alice."

He raised his eyebrows, "And what makes you so sure?" What had he done to give himself away, surely he hadn't been _that_ obvious?

She raised her eyebrows in return, setting the book aside to give him her full attention. "It was obvious. You don't stare at someone that intently unless you comparing them to someone else. You should be familiar with the feeling since you disliked it when Alice compared you to her ex." Ah yes, the ex-lover the whore had probably cheated on. Riley seemed to notice she'd woken up something dangerous and changed the subject. "So what have you decided about me? I'm sure you're observations have been for a reason."

Blood smirked again, relaxing into the couch once more, pushing his doppelganger from his mind and deciding to humor the young woman. "You're tolerable, more so than Alice was. Because you see, Alice was a whore. Even if she didn't mean to, she led on nearly every man in Wonderland."

Riley blinked at his harsh words, candy-coated in such a way that it was hard to tell they were indeed harsh. "And I take it I don't?"

"Not at all. You're polite enough to be friendly, yet not familiar enough to make people feel overly special. As I said, you're tolerable." He explained, curious what her reaction to his words would be.

She nodded thoughtfully, chewing on her lip lightly as she did so. Then she smiled slightly. "I can live with that."

A sudden thought occurred to the hatter. "Riley," he said the word in his smoothest voice; he was going to break her to him and would miss no opportunity to advance that plot, "How much do you know about Wonderland?" he was honestly curious hoe much Alice had told her. "Why don't you tell me some stories from Alice?"

Riley fidgeted by nodded. "Well, for what I know, I know that the time is strange and unpredictable, that only Roleholders have faces, that people from Wonderland have clocks instead of hearts, and that everyone here falls in love with foreigners." Blood nodded, the basics any foreigner should know. "As for stories, should I start at the beginning?"

"That seems reasonable." He said, his curiosity unusually peaked at being able to hear Alice's side of the story.

"Well she said it began with a card game, in her garden. Her sister, Lorina, had gone to get the cards and she'd fallen asleep, waking up to see Peter White, in bunny form of course..." And so the hatter and the spade spent the night, re-living and re-learning the history of Wonderland, and the foreigner who destroyed it.


	10. The Assassin

**Thank you for you guys who are keeping up with this, sorry this chapter's no one of my best :P but enjoy it anyway.**

**-Spazzy  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Gray let out a sigh, "I'll show you a guest room, Blaise. I have to make sure Nightmare takes his medicine." <em>Which he won't and I'll have to force him to,<em> The assassin added in his mind.

Blaise shrugged and stood, "sure thing." And followed him up the stairs to the guest quarters. He left her in a room telling her there was sleeping wear in the closet if she wished to use and went to Nightmare's office.

He couldn't help but wonder what his boss was up to. Another foreigner so soon after Alice? It was almost as if her were trying to destroy the Game, or at least damage it irreparably. Gray let out another sigh at the sight of work Nightmare hadn't done. He hadn't been expecting anything less but he always hoped.

He went into the adjoining room, noticing the medicine that Nightmare had taken. Unusual, but he did it occasionally when he did very little work, as if to say sorry to his assistant. Gray returned to the office and got to work signing the papers. Being the lord of Clover Tower as well as the caterpillar made Nightmare have a lot of paperwork; Gray didn't exactly blame him for not wanting to do it.

He'd made it through maybe half when Julius walked in. "Who's in our guest room?" he asked bluntly.

Gray let out yet another sigh, "Nightmare's brought in a new foreigner." He held up a hand when Julius opened his mouth in protest. "I don't know why, I don't know what he was thinking but her name's Blaise Everdeen and as far as can see, she's nothing like Alice."

Julius closed his mouth into a hard line before simply nodding and walking off. For a man of few words, that action said a lot.

Just as he was about to start working again, a soft knock came at the door. "Come in." he called, wondering who would actually knock here.

Blaise's red hair peeked around the door. She grinned, "Hey Gray." She stepped fully inside and closed the door, looking around the room curiously.

"Blaise," He put the pen down, giving the foreigner his full attention. "What do you need?"

She shrugged, "Oh nothing, I'm just not tired." She glanced away from the bookshelf she was studying to examine his pile of paperwork. "Do you need some help?"

That was surprising, he barely knew her and she was offering to help. Maybe she was more like Alice than he'd realized. He smiled at her, "That'd be great, Nightmare never does his work and I end up with it"

Blaise laughed, sitting next to him, "I'm not surprised. He seems like that type." She picked up a pen and a stack of papers.

"Just sign them with 'Nightmare' it doesn't really matter if it looks like his signature since barely anyone actually knows what it looks like." Gray said with a small laugh.

She grinned up at him and started on the paperwork. "So does anyone else live in this tower, or is it just you and Nightmare?"

Without looking up he replied, "Julius Monrey lives here. He's the clockmaker."

"So what does that translate into if clocks are hearts?"

She was intuitive, that was good. She might actually last here. "Clocks can be fixed. When someone dies the clocks are brought to Julius and he fixes them so their owner can be reborn."

"So no one dies here?" She asked incredulously, her eyes wide when she looked up at him. The low lighting made the green in her eyes sparkle.

_Damn it_ he thought, _I'm already attracted to her. The gift of the foreigners, enticing everyone they meet._ "No, our roles will come back. But they won't have our memories, or our experiences. But they would have our names, our faces." He explained.

"That's… kind of creepy. It's like amnesia, when someone loses their memories but they look the same still but they act differently…"

Gray nodded, that sounded about right. "Most foreigners don't like the idea of it. Those of us raised here are rather free with our weapons and our lives because we'll be reborn."

She frowned, her eyebrows scrunching together. "But you wouldn't be you anymore?"

Gray shrugged, "its how we grew up, with that mentality, it's hard to think of it differently when that's what life's like here."

Blaise nodded, "It's like a different culture, and you were raised differently than us so you'll see things differently." Gray nodded, she understood better than Alice had.

After that they moved to less serious topics, signing Nightmare's name on stacks of papers and enjoying each others company, comparing their worlds occasionally when Blaise ran into something curious and talking about the people they knew.


	11. The Jester

The jester gestured for the foreigner to follow him, which she did willingly and he led her to the closest vacant tent for her to sleep in until further arrangements were made.

"Thank you so much White." Angel said with that soft smile.

He simply nodded, "Good night Angel."

White let the tent flap fall and the scene around him shifted from the entrance tot eh foreigner s tent to the dark prison of his twin.

Said twin was waiting at the entrance, arms crossed and a perpetual scowl on his face. "Who would have thought that damned incubus could find a fairytale."

White smirked. "Indeed. I was quite surprised as well. No one here even believes in the Deck anymore."

Black snorted. "Obviously someone does. The question is, do we want the Game fixed or do we ruin this fucking whore's life like we usually do?"

"I can see which one you're leaning toward, but I believe this may require more research. We don't know what would happen if the Game broke. Would it be the chaos we thrive on, or would it be too chaotic for us as well?" White pondered.

"Won't know till it happens. Better question is do we want to fuck with the girl or not?" Black said with a dark smirk.

White smiled a smile that would give people chills, "She's just so sweet and innocent, how can I not want to ruin her?" he replied to his twin, who gave a similar smile.

"Want to go the usual way, portray me as a fucking asshole and you as the goddamned saint so she'll trust you?"

"Nothing about this foreigner is the usual, so let's do it opposite. Let's make her like _you_. It's more of a challenge." The jester said with a smirk.

His counterpart considered it, fiddling with his whip, before nodding. A malicious smile spreading across his lips and his eyes glinting in excitement. White was sure he looked the same.

"I'll take her down to meet you in the morning." White said before letting the prison fade around him and going to his own tent to sleep.

He woke at dawn the next morning, followed his routine of getting the circus up and running, then checked in on little Angel.

He poked his head into the tent, "Good morning." He said with a bright smile. Angel smiled back, setting down the book she'd been reading. "Come with me dear, we've got to make a trip to the prison so you can meet Black."

She looked a little uneasy but took his offered hand and gasped when the scenery faded into the dark prison.

"Took you long enough, I've got a fucking prison to run you know, I can't be waiting here all fucking day." A voice said from behind them. Angel spun while White turned slowly to see his counterpart.

"Angel, this is Black, my foul-mouthed twin. Black, this Angel, our resident foreigner." White said in a bored tone, studying his nails.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The foreigner said in her soft voice, smiling her small smile at the warden. White smirked from behind her, so far so good.

Black grunted and White rolled his eyes. "He's rude. Don't worry about it. He's not a bad person though." He added for Angel's benefit.

His twin rolled his eyes and turned to the foreigner. "We're going to be moving you down here, where we have actual rooms rather than tents. And no, we aren't talking about the cells; those are in a different section."

White was actually kind of proud that his twin had managed to withhold cursing during that whole speech...

"Better fucking follow me." Black said, turning to walk away.

_Well, he did fairly well…_ White thought before following Angel. "I'm rather busy running the circus so not only will you have better accommodations, you'll have company. Just ignore his colorful language; I don't think he knows how to talk without it..."

Angel smiled, "I'm used to it. Blaise and Nikki aren't afraid to talk rather foul sometimes."

White smiled in return, glancing down at his watch, "Well I have to run to supervise the circus, but if you need anything don't be afraid to ask Black, even if he's rude about it he doesn't mind."

She gave a soft laugh in response and nodded, watching curiously as he faded away. As White walked around the circus, keeping the clowns and vendors in order, he smirked to himself. Step one complete.


	12. The Cheshire Cat

**Thanks to TheBlueQueen for her review, enjoy!**

**-Spazzy**

* * *

><p>Boris jumped up and down on the bed in the guest room of the amusement park. Nikki was watching him in amusement, standing in the middle of room with her hands on her hips.<p>

"Are you having fun?" She asked sarcastically, a small smile playing on her lips.

The punk teen grinned back, "you should try it." Then a moment of inspiration hit him, he whipped off his boa and wrapped it around her yanking her toward the bed.

She stumbled and glared up at him playfully, grabbing one of his legs and dragging him down. He hit the ground with a thud and his tail pulled her down by her wrist to fall next to him. They laid on the floor giggling for a few minutes.

The Cheshire cat stared at the foreigner for a moment, her face flushed with laughter, her eyes sparkling in mischief; she was so different from Alice. Alice was so serious but she was kind, while Nikki was playful and she seemed to not overthink things too much.

"What?" She said laughing, noticing his stare.

He grinned, "Just considering what to do next." Then he lept up, dragging her up as well and pushed her onto the bed, making her jump with him. "I told you to try it."

She laughed, "So you did." She grabbed his hands and bounced higher so they were bouncing in opposite directions. Then she whipped his boa off of is shoulders and jumped off the bed, practically flying out of the room.

"Hey!" Boris yelled after her, following the fleeing foreigner.

They were both laughing as they flew through the lit up amusement park. The lights gave everything a colorful glow and lit the sky. There were fireworks in the distance and the crowds had barely diminished so following the girl was getting difficult. He barely got glimpses of his boa flowing behind her as she shot around corners.

He swung on top of a cotton candy stand, following her from the tops of the stands until finally he pounced, grabbing the boa and knocking Nikki to the ground. "Gotcha!" he yelled, throwing his boa back around his shoulders as he sat up, breathing heavily from chasing her but his eyes sparkling with mischief. He grabbed her and swung her over his shoulder with his boa, running back to the rooms.

"Hey!" she laughed from behind him, her upper body dangling down his back.

He just laughed in response, weaving through the crowds as he did while simultaneously avoiding Gowland. They did not want a repeat of earlier. They returned to the guest room and he dropped Nikki on the bed, flopping down next to her.

"So how did you get here anyway?" he asked, turning to look at her.

She sighed and looked at the ceiling. "Well me and some of my friends were hanging out like we usually do when this adorable bunny came up to us. We followed it and it jumped in this giant hole. I was all for just jumping in too but everyone else was nervous about it. Except for Riley, and she's the least reckless person I know. She just lept in and we all followed her." She said with a shrug.

"There are more foreigners here?" Boris asked in surprise.

"Yeah there's five of us."

"Five… And where did you land?" He asked, his mind racing. Normal visitors always landed near the Clover Tower; there was only one story where they didn't…

"Um, here?" She said, turning to look at him curiously

He let out a low whistle, "It looks like someone still believes in the old fairytales of Wonderland." She raised an eyebrow, obviously asking him what fairytale.

"Well, it's an old story, no one really believes it but we're all told it anyway…"

"And that's the definition of a fairytale." Nikki interrupted with a smirk.

He gave her a look before continuing, "It's supposed to be a true story, it's about a group of foreigners called the Deck. Wonderland rarely has more than one foreigner at a time, and never five, so the numbers significant. The Deck is supposed to appear when the Game is in need. Don't ask what the Game is, we don't even really know, we just follows its rules, they're like the rules of our universe, our lives are the Game." Nikki nodded thoughtfully. "Well every once in a while he Game starts falling apart, we've been noticing it lately but no one believed in the Deck so we all just kind of pretended it wasn't happening.

"Anyway, each member of the Deck is specific to each area of Wonderland. The Heart Castle, the Hatter Mansion, the Amusement Park, the Circus, and the Clover Tower. Each member of the Deck is unable to leave the territory until they accept their role, which means that each has to accept Wonderland itself. The mere presence of a foreigner effects Wonderland, the presence of the Deck is like a concentrated version of those effects, spread throughout each territory and healing the Game."


	13. The White Rabbit

Peter White was upset. He was always upset nowadays. Ever since Alice had left, especially since he had to be the one to bring in the people who were supposed to fix her mistake, who were supposed to make it as if she'd never been there.

Peter clenched his fist, he wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't forget his Alice like the other Roleholders eventually would. He wouldn't let the Deck burn her from the Game, make it so she was never there and erase her from Wonderland's memory. The ironic part, her own grandson was one of them. Michael. The proof that Alice had been happy in her world, had moved on, had a family, had kids, and not looked back.

He felt a pang of heartbreak at the thought that he couldn't even have been in the same world as her, couldn't be content to have her be happy near him if not with him. He hadn't even been able to see her, he didn't even know if she remembered Wonderland anymore.

The white rabbit collapsed on the ground, tears filling his crimson eyes as he sat beneath the tree in his private garden. The Queen had given it to him after Alice left, a place for him to be alone to think about Alice. She wouldn't even allow servants in here. It seemed she had a heart after all, but then, Alice had affected everyone. And the Deck was here to erase that. Being Prime Minister, Peter had had no choice but to listen to the dream demon when he ordered him to bring in this group of people. Peter's only hope was that one of these foreigners would not accept Wonderland, would not come to love its inhabitants, and would want to go home.

Nightmare had made sure the Deck would not mind staying, unlike Alice who'd been insistent in seeing her sister, though Peter was unsure if the incubus had told these foreigners that time was different here, more so than it seemed. While Alice was trying to get home to see her sister, her sister was aging and dying quickly. What had been a few months for Alice, was decades for her world. And so she left, because he had been forbidden to tell her, and only Nightmare knew beside him.

_This is all that bastard's fault._ Peter thought glumly, having lost the anger that usually came with those words days ago. If Nightmare had told Alice, she would have stayed, if he had told her, she would still be here and the Deck would still be a legend that was not needed. Now, the Deck was real, they would take Alice from Wonderland so that she had never been, and the Game will heal itself in the face of the foreigners. And Peter alone would remember his beloved and mourn her loss.

The presence of the new foreigners made her loss even sharper. The contrast between her and each of the others was so obvious, he couldn't understand how it could make anyone forget his Alice, but that was how it worked. The Deck came and the Roleholders forgot. And there was little he could do to stop it. No one could leave their territory, even the foreigners, so Peter was limited in what he could do. He would just kill Michael, but he was Alice's grandson, and she'd be unhappy if he did that. So that was out of the question, he would kill one of the others but he couldn't leave until Michael accepted his role as the Heart.

So he would make Michael feel welcome. Be kind to him, help him adjust to Wonderland, and make him accept so he could kill one of the others. With that in mind Peter stood once more, wiping the tears from his face and giving the garden one last look before walking away.

He was in luck; Michael was walking through the maze, toward the entrance. Peter ran to catch up to him. "You won't be able to leave."

The man gave him look with Alice's beautiful blue eyes, "I _may_ not be able to leave."

He'd obviously talked to Vivaldi if that's what he thought. "Vivaldi has suspicions about who you are, but I brought you here, I _know_ that you won't be able to leave because I _know_ that you're the Heart."

"I'll still try, I need to find the others." He said, his face blank. Peter got the feeling that the man didn't like him very much.

"And you're nature shows. You're commitment and care for the others makes you the perfect Heart, each one of you is a perfect role. It's why you were chosen."

Michael seemed to be softening toward him when he got information. "And you chose us?"

"Me? No, it's simply part of my role that I have to go retrieve the foreigners that wish to enter, or that we wish to enter. Nightmare chose you; I'm not sure if he'll be able to contact you due to the blocks on the territories that you're presence caused. He will if he can though, and it will be obnoxiously cryptic."

Michael smirked. "I've heard. Grandma always said he was the most powerful being in Wonderland."

"She remembered?" Peter asked quietly. "Some foreigners forget when they leave…"

"She remembered, she used to tell stories. Riley listened more than the rest of us did; I wasn't into the imaginary world stories." He said with a self-mocking smirk, "It'd be useful if I had been."

Peter didn't say anything, and they continued to the entrance in silence.


	14. The Tweedle Dee

Dee shifted unhappily in the chair he was tied to. He and Dum had run off again and that idiot Newby Hare had decided to separate the bloody twins. And make sure they stayed that way. They were in separate rooms and tied to chairs as punishment.

If only Onee-san wasn't still locked in the boss's office. She would untie him. But, just like his old Onee-san, she was spending more time with the boss than him and his brother. Why didn't any of his onee-sans spend time with him?

Dee supposed he was being unfair to Riley by judging that when she'd only been here a day, so he decided that once she left the boss's office she would hang out with him and his brother. She would, she had to!

Now the more immediate problem was him being tied up… hm…

"Onee-san!" he yelled at the top of his voice. "Oneeee-saaaan!"

A few seconds later he heard a door open and light footsteps. Another door opened and the brunette poked her head in.

"Dee?" she asked and he grinned that she'd remembered who was who. "Why are you tied up?" her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as she went all the way into the room, studying the boy.

He pouted, "Newbie Hare was being mean! We were just taking a break and he tied us up in separate rooms!"

"Um…" she looked unsure.

"Untie me!" he pulled out his best puppy dog face. Unfortunately, that stupid Newbie hare chose that moment to enter.

"Don't listen to him Riley he was ditching work again." Elliot said, putting his hand on the foreigners shoulder.

"But isn't he missing more work being tied up?" she asked in confusion.

Elliot shrugged. "The borders are closed right now anyway, we don't need gatekeepers."

"What do you mean the borders are closed?" she asked, seeming overly concerned. It wasn't she'd met anyone else yet, so why would she care?

"No one can enter or leave Hatter Territory. Or any other territory for that matter. We're trying to figure out why." The idiot hare explained.

"What about the others?"

"What others?" he and the hare said at the same time, Dee glaring when he realized this.

"My friends. Five of us fell down that hole and got stuck here." She said, realizing that she hadn't mentioned that yet.

Dee frowned, five. Why did that sound important? Five foreigners… the Deck. His eyes widened. "It's the Deck."

"The Deck is just a myth." Elliot snapped, looking perturbed.

"The only myth that involves closing borders is the Deck! Especially with the five foreigners!" Dee yelled excitedly, bouncing up and down in the chair he was tied to.

"Um, what's the deck?" Riley asked, confused.

"It's a legend." Elliot said.

"It's about a group of foreigners who have to fix the Game. We've all noticed it's been broken, then five foreigners appearing, the borders closing, it has to be the Deck!" Dee said, his voice high with excitement.

At that moment Blood walked in. "Why are you guys telling fairytales?"

"Dee thinks the Deck is here." Elliot said scathingly.

"It's the only choice! We've all noticed that the Game is breaking and then five foreigners arrive and the borders closed, it's the Deck!"

"Five foreigners?" Blood asked, turning to Riley, "I only see one."

This time Riley beat the others. "I wasn't the only one to fall in that hole, just the first. Remember I told you that Alice was Michael's grandmother? Well Michael's here too, and so is Nikki, Angel, and Blaise."

Blood nodded thoughtfully, "those were your friends you spoke about, the ones who didn't really listen to dear Alice?" he said the word 'dear' in a harsh tone.

Riley nodded. Blood placed a finger on his lips thoughtfully while Elliot and Dee looked between the two.

Faintly Dee could hear Dum yelling, "Let me out!" And he felt it odd that his twin was not here to share in these monumental happenings. How could he really explain that the tension was enough to even shut him up? He couldn't. And he didn't really care.


	15. The Caterpillar

When Nightmare woke up that morning, for once sleeping without visiting anyone, he heard laughing from his office. He could vaguely recognize Gray's voice and a female voice. Blaise.

The incubus smiled. Blaise was already accepting this world and its inhabitants Things were going according to plan. He smirked as he heard his assistant's thoughts. The foreigner was growing on Gray already. Good.

Nightmare stood, stretching, and releasing a yawn before shuffling over to his closet and digging out his usual outfit. He brushed his hair back and secured his eye patch. He had just finished when Gray walked in with a tray of breakfast.

"Good, you're awake. I expect you to actually do some work today since Blaise and I did nearly all of it last night."

The foreigner herself walked in after him, her red hair trailing in waves behind her and catching the light as she opened his curtains in an energetic manner.

The dream demon sighed dramatically, taking the glass of water from his assistant as well as the pills, "I suppose." He said drawing out the last word before popping the pills in his mouth.

Gray studied him before nodding thoughtfully. He turned to the redhead, "Come on Blaise, I'll show you around." And with that the two left the dream demon to himself. He sat at his desk filled with papers but ignored his physical work.

Nightmare opened his mind and slipped into his dream world. He summoned the orbs of each territory to check on his progress.

In Heart Castle, it seemed Michael was fitting in nicely. Vivaldi understood the importance of the foreigner and Peter was the one who brought him there so there shouldn't be any problems there. Ace may be a problem, with his desire to kill a foreigner.

Moving on to look at the Hatter Mansion the incubus smiled, they were all doing well. Blood was intrigued by Riley, especially with her pre-knowledge of Wonderland, while the twins had already attached themselves to her and Elliot couldn't hate a foreigner of he wanted to.

Nightmare already knew the situation in Clover Tower, Blaise and Gray were connecting well and Julius was being the antisocial workaholic he always was. He would dislike Blaise's presence but he wouldn't try to drive her away.

The silver-haired man frowned at the Joker Forest's orb. He worried for Angel, he hadn't chosen where she would fall and he was terrified for the child. He knew the jokers would be up to something terrible and poor Angel was the worst possible person to have fallen there. She was too innocent and naïve. That would be the most problematic area.

On the other hand, Nikki was fitting in perfectly in the Amusement Park; she was the most settled here. Nightmare wasn't really surprised; she seemed the easygoing and accepting type. Or maybe that was just her restlessness.

Nightmare nodded at his progress, reaching into the one major problem zone. The dream shimmered around him and the petite blonde appeared before him, looking around in confusion.

"Where am I?" she asked in a soft lilting voice.

"In the dream world." He said in his 'grand' voice. "My name is Nightmare; I live in Clover Tower, with Blaise." He dropped a familiar name to make her comfortable.

She spun and looked at him in confusion. "I don't understand…"

He smiled softly, floating down to her level. "This world is strange; don't think too hard about it. I just came to warn you. Beware the Jokers, they are the worst men in Wonderland and they will not hesitate to hurt you. And when that happens, because it will happen and I'm limited in what I can do for you, you need to hold on and stay strong. I will visit your dreams to help you any way I can. I'm sorry." Then he released the dream, his mood dour.

That girl was the most innocent girl he had seen, even more so than Alice, and she was in the worst possible situation. The Joker's would take her innocence and use it against her, and he couldn't even stop it.

With an angered sigh Nightmare jolted himself back into the physical realm, coughing blood softly into his handkerchief as gray walked in to check on him.

"What have you been doing this whole time?" his assistant asked, eyeing the stack of paper that was larger than it had been when Nightmare had entered the dream world.

"I'm sick." The incubus whined, pushing away his deeper thoughts, exhausted by the efforts of controlling the Deck.

His assistant sighed, beginning the usual tirade of his boss's laziness.


	16. The Warden

Black leaned against the doorframe to the foreigner's new room as she examined it, his single ruby eye following the petite blonde as she practically glided around the room.

The warden was trying to think of how his twin would make the little foreigner dislike him, she already trusted White completely, the jester would have to do something to her to send her running into the warden's arms. And the warden would probably have to pretend to get in a fight with his brother. It wouldn't bet he first time.

It had been awhile since the twins had made Black look like a good guy, because he wasn't and he showed it off, but they'd made it work on occasion. Hopefully this would be one such occasion.

"Is it to you're liking whore?" he asked sarcastically to the still examining maiden.

A small smile pulled at the edge of her lips. "Yes sir." She replied in a similar tone.

Black reappraised her; maybe she would be more entertaining than he thought. "Well then whore, why don't we go and play a game of cards."

She shrugged, "don't expect me to make a bet with you; I have a nasty habit of losing those." The little idiot didn't even know that that was what he was known for, making people lose bets. This was definitely going to be interesting.

An hour and four card games later Angel threw down yet another failed hand with an exasperated sigh. "I suck at this." She said sulkily, her lips turned in a pout.

Black just grinned. "You don't suck, whore, I'm just fucking awesome. You sure you won't make a bet with me?" he said in best cajoling voice.

She snorted unladylike, "After you just told that you're awesome? No way."

This time the warden pouted, "Come on whore, just one measly bet."

She studied him, succumbing to he look he was giving her. "What kind of bet?"

A mischievous smirk spread across the dark Joker's face. "I want to hear you say a curse word." She raised an eyebrow. "You're so innocent, I enjoy tainting innocence."

She rolled her eyes, "And what would I get?"

"I'll stop cursing in front of you." He said immediately.

Angel rolled her eyes again, "Yeah right. You couldn't if you tried. How about you just start calling me by name rather than 'whore'."

The warden shrugged, knowing he would win anyway. "Fine."

Then he dealt the cards. The blonde sighed when she picked them up, knowing she would probably lose.

A few seconds later… "Holy fucking shit! How the fuck did you do that you whore!"

They both stared at the hand she had thrown down. Hen she looked up at him slyly, "I believe you aren't allowed to call me that anymore."

Just at that moment White walked in. "How are you both this fine evening?" he said grandly.

"Angel and I are fucking fine." Black muttered, stunned beyond belief that the wench had beaten him, _him,_ at a card game. And when he'd finally gotten her to make a bet.

His twin stared at him. "Did you just call her something other than 'whore' or 'bitch'?" he asked in shock, his eye wandering to the table where the cards were still spread out. Then he started laughing. "She beat you in a card game, oh that's rich."

The warden glared harshly at his twin who seemed to be having trouble breathing due to his laughter. "She got fucking lucky." He growled.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the foreigner looking between them with her lips turned up in an amused smile.

The jester finally regained his breath, "I think I'm going to enjoy her presence more than I thought I would."

Black said nothing, though he was silently adding his agreement. This foreigner was more intriguing than he'd thought she would be.

She smiled softly again, yawning slightly. "I'm heading to bed, I'll see you tomorrow." She said with a soft wave.

Once the door closed behind her the twins turned back toward each other. "Everything going according to plan then?" White asked.

Black nodded. "The little whore's looking past foul language, just like you old her too."

The twins grinned at each other, twin looks of mischief and dark intent gleaming in both eyes of the Joker.


End file.
